Never Expected
by lostandtroubledsoul
Summary: AU Max is the only true human in the Thunderman family that consists of current and upcoming heroes. That is until he experiences threats from one of his father's arch enemies and it unravels to be something much more than he ever would have expected. (Please give this a chance, I'm not the best with summaries.) (Rated T just to be safe.)
1. Chapter 1

AU Max is the only true human in the Thunderman family that consists of current and upcoming heroes. That is until he experiences threats from one of his father's arch enemies and it unravels to be something much more than he ever would have expected. (Please give this a chance, I'm not the best with summaries.) (Rated T just to be safe.)

"_Mr. Thunderman is going to regret ever sending me to rot in that prison cell.." _he thought to himself. _"Mr. Electric is a free villain once again and my first act is going to be that I achieve my revenge." _

Max couldn't figure why, but ever since he had woken up that morning he had an unnerving feeling that something was about to be very wrong. Usually around the Thunderman household this would be taken seriously, depending on who this feeling was coming from. However since it came from Max, he was aware it wasn't anything his family should have great concern over because he was merely a human and not a hero as of now or in the upcoming future. He thought this way more to himself than out in the open, but truthfully what kind of great help can a simple human bring to a family gifted with abilities he could only dream about?

Just as Max would have guessed, nothing out of the ordinary occurred that day. It was nearly time for the next day to approach and the thought of preparing to gain some sleep was now making a way into his mind.

"_See, you were just being paranoid." _

Once he noticed how much time had truly passed, he changed from his clothes of the previous day into a plain black t-shirt and a pair of plaid pajama pants with an assortment of red and dark green hues. Only mere minutes away from sleep taking over his senses, Max was without any warning hit with a dull throb of a headache. He was about to simply pushed it aside besides, what kind of damage could come from a common headache anyway? However, what hit him next definitely caught the fifteen year old off guard.

"_Hello Max Thunderman I'm well aware that I am the last thing you ever would have thought to hear, let alone within your own mind. I'm Mr. Electric, an arch enemy of the hero you happen to call your father. I ask that you come to me willingly now, or else I can assure you the entire Thunderman family will suffer." _

As soon as the message concluded the headache did so as well. The only thing he could come up with to do about the situation was to ignore the threat entirely, hoping that it would somehow disappear on its own. However, Max's hopes weren't meant as within almost a week's time the pounding against his skull increased massively and soon became an ongoing pattern. While Max had an ideal way with not expressing when he was in pain, soon it became too much to handle.

"Are you alright Max?" his twin sister Phoebe questioned with concern as she took notice of her brother gripping his forehead as if it was bothering him as he blankly swirled his spoon around in his bowl of cereal.

"I'm fine."

"It's kind of obvious that you're in pain, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just drop it okay?" Max snapped.

"Enough both of you!" exclaimed Hank as breakfast immediately became silent. "Max once you finish your breakfast I'd like to speak with you private, alright?"

Max nodded and once the remainder of the Thunderman family went off to do what they pleased during that Saturday morning, Hank was determined to figure out just what was bothering his son.

"Look Dad, I'm honestly okay can I just go to my room please?"

"I'm not buying it Max." Hank stated. "You've been like this for almost a week and while no one else has noticed, I'm thinking that the Tylenol hasn't been helping whatever is going on."

"You'd be right on that one." Max muttered under his breath.

"I want you to have your mother check you out if something's wrong we'll know, if not then you're in the clear."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, now go."

While this didn't sound like a huge deal, Max knew exactly what his Mom was going to do. She had the ability to sense what was occurring with others, whether it be a new ability developing for his siblings, the start of an upcoming cold or in some cases what one's inner thoughts were. Max wasn't sure if she would be able to sense Mr. Electric's threats that were made to him telepathically, but he honestly hoped she wouldn't.

"Get sent up here for me to check out?" asked Barb as soon as Max entered his parents bedroom.

"That obvious huh?"

"By the sounds of the conservation you had with your dad downstairs, a little bit."

"Can we just get this over with?"

"Stay completely still okay?"

"Got it."

As Barb began what Max was sent there to do, he couldn't help but fill his thoughts with the question of whether or not Mr. Electric's messages would be found out. Maybe a minute away until Max's dread could possibly come to a close, he had to have the worst possible luck courtesy of his father's arch enemy himself.

"_I've warned you time and time again Max, come to me willingly if you want to keep your precious family safe." _

Max had to close his eyes tightly and honestly bite the crap out of his tongue to keep from whimpering out in agony. Barb was a bit surprised by this to say the least and once the message ended and he returned his attention to his Mom, Max knew that he couldn't keep up the 'I'm just fine' card any longer.

"Okay, something's definitely up with you Max Thunderman." Barb finally stated. "While that was going on I was able to sense an intense pressure much stronger than an average headache, however the cause of it I couldn't figure out."

Max was silently relieved to hear his mother's response, but what came next wasn't what he was expecting at all.

"My only idea would have to be going to the hospital and seeing if they have any suggestions to what could be happening."

Max could feel an anxious mess form in the pit of his stomach. Due to the type of problem his Mom had sensed, Max knew she wasn't going to send him to a hospital for powerless humans like himself, but one for those with the abilities he lacked.

"Are you sure about this, I mean I'm not.." Max had began to protest.

"I know Max, but I honestly believe this is something more than what an average hospital can solve."

"A-Alright, you want me to go tell Dad?"

"No I will just go get in the car, okay?"

"Okay."

As Max made his way back downstairs, that same feeling of nerves he experienced nearly a week ago made a reappearance. While he ignored it then, he was silently promising himself that he wouldn't do the same this time around. Whatever Mr. Electric desired him alone for Max was going to figure out, even if that meant meeting the villain's demands.

**I honestly had this idea come to mind out of nowhere and thought why not post it and see what the readers think? Since this is an AU fic, I'll be using different abilities than those in the show. (I thought I'd give you guys a heads up in case any confusion arises.) I made Mr. Electric up, he isn't a villain in the show and just to sure you guys know, when the text is in italics it is either someone's thoughts or Mr. Electric communicating with Max. This is my first Thunderman fic, so please let me know what you guys think. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

If there was one thing Max didn't like, it would have to be hospitals. The entire atmosphere just crept under the fifteen year old's skin it didn't matter if it was a staged hospital on television or a full running one like the one he was currently in. He had to admit one thing however, it was sort of peaceful compared to the Thunderman household and it was a nice change.

Max was at the moment alone sitting on the bed occupying the bare room while his parents were filling out paperwork in case matters became to where staying overnight was an essential. A hour had passed since they first arrived and to his surprise he hadn't received anything from his father's foe since his Mom had sensed the pressure the enemy had been causing. Soon however that realization became a lie as the alarming pound approached again as if it never had truly left.

"_I think I finally have figured you out Max, if you just tell me the truth I may go easy on that family of yours." _

"_What are you talking about, I have nothing to hide from you." _

"_Just admit it, you are obtaining abilities of your own as I speak, you're simply waiting for the right time to come and accept my offer so you Thundermans will earn another victory." _

"_Look I don't know how you even thought of that, but if you really paid attention you'd know I will never make a plan that clever in my lifetime." _

"_You're good at this I must say however I warn you now that if you want a fight with me, you're not going to succeed."_

"_I'm not lying to you or asking for a fight, I don't have any kind of powers period so how in the heck would I even have a shot against you?" _

Apparently Max was mistaken. The moment he returned his focus to his surroundings and was left with the piercing aftermath of his and Mr. Electric's conversation, he realized he wasn't sitting on the hospital bed any longer. Instead, Max managed to somehow return to his bedroom in the basement of the Thunderman house. His mind was a scattered mess trying to find a way he could have seen this coming, but no answer came. A single question was the best Max could do: How did this happen?

Soon he found another factor he should have expected which was the amount of energy that it took to accomplish such a task, even if it happened on a whim. As it turned out, somehow traveling from that hospital to his bedroom was quite draining, then it was without any kind of alert that Max became unconscious from the gained exhaustion.

After an overwhelming amount of paperwork was signed, Barb and Hank made their way to the room Max was supposed to be in awaiting their return. The split second they comprehended his absence, Barb contacted Phoebe who was watching Nora and Billy and attempted to calmly explain the situation then asking her to search anywhere the siblings thought Max could have decided to venture off to.

"Nora, Billy come downstairs!" ordered Phoebe once she had ended the call with their mom.

"What are you shouting for, we weren't doing anything wrong." Nora questioned, annoyance clearly dripping in her voice.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Billy added in.

"Max isn't at the hospital, Mom wants us to search anywhere he could have wandered off to."

"He really left the hospital?" responded Nora in disbelief as her sister nodded. "I know he isn't a fan of them, but I never would have guessed he'd do something like this."

"Me either, let's start by searching the house in case he managed to sneak in." Billy suggested.

"That's actually a pretty good idea..Nora you look upstairs, Billy you take the rooms downstairs and I'll check his room."

The siblings separated with their task at hand. As it turns out, Phoebe didn't need long to find the answer to the odd mystery of her brother's disappearance.

"Max.." she managed to speak softly as the sight of her twin out cold sunk in.

Trying her best not to waste time Phoebe chose to use an ability of hers to her advantage, at least that's what she was hoping for. Once she was beside her brother in his unconscious state, she willed her fingertips to dance with a delicate blue mist that when the moment came that they were in contact with him, it would transform into a mild shock. With her nerves soon obvious by her shaking hands, Phoebe gave Max the first shock which to her disappointment didn't lead to him returning to his senses. She tried again and again, earning no success.

"One more time." muttered Phoebe under her breath as she took her focus away from the growing fear creeping in and pushed it towards what truly mattered right now.

She shut her eyes in anticipation and sent all the shock she could gather to Max. Phoebe lifted her eyelids to witness the flutter of her brother's.

"What the heck happened?" he struggled to get out as he sat up from the his bedroom floor, the impact of the multiple shocks now sinking in.

"Yeah that's my bad, I couldn't think of what else to do." his sister confessed, the mist still apparent on her fingertips. "Look I know you absolutely dread hospitals, but you really didn't need to come all the way back home..Mom was a nervous wreck on the phone."

"It wasn't on purpose."

"Did Billy speed over to the hospital and come get you?"

"No he didn't, but to be honest I wish that the answer was that simple."

"So if it wasn't Billy, how did you get here?"

"I don't know Phoebe, you're better at figuring out these kind of things than I am."

"Could it have something to do with why you were at the hospital to start with?"

Max was about to say no to Phoebe's suggestion, but after thinking over the dispute he had with Mr. Electric the answer was like a slap to the face.

"He was right.."

"Who was right?"

"Okay what I'm about to tell you is a bit out there, but I swear I'm not making this up." Max started as Phoebe nodded for him to continue. "Do you remember Mr. Electric, one of Dad's arch enemies that he sent to prison when we were younger?"

"I think so, wasn't he the villain with telepathy that Dad caught threatening to capture that corporation owner's family unless the owner handed over the money the company held in their vault?" Phoebe responded as Max nodded. "What does that have to do with.."

"He's been communicating with me telepathically for almost a week, he's wanting me to come to him willingly or the entire family pays for it."

"Why didn't you just tell Dad?"

"He said I couldn't tell anyone and if I did he would come after me himself, but I guess that doesn't matter now."

"God Max what were you..wait what does he have to do with how you got home?"

"At the hospital, he was so sure that I was gaining my own abilities and was planning on sending him back to jail once I did." Max explained. "I was telling him over and over that I wasn't, but then once his finished what he had to say I ended up here..then whatever I had done to get here took so much out of me that I passed out."

"The only ability I can think of would be teleportation, sometimes when one is in stressful situations they can teleport without even realizing it."

"And you know this because?"

"I do research from time to time.." stated Phoebe simply. "I'll call Mom to let her know you need a ride back."

"Don't worry about that, I'll go back to the hospital myself."

"Max, you can't just teleport yourself back to the hospital when you don't even know how to control it."

"How can I figure it out if I don't try?" Max argued.

"It would be easier if you just let Mom come here, the last thing you need is to travel somewhere you're not familiar with."

Max let his sister's words go in one ear and out the other, because seconds later he and his siblings were all transported to the hospital where they were welcomed by the stunned expressions on their parents faces.


	3. Chapter 3

"How in the world did you.." Barb started to question before Phoebe led her mom's attention to her twin brother, who now had beads of sweat coating his forehead due to the task he accomplished. "Max, you did this?"

Max could only respond with a nod. Like his first act of teleportation, the fifteen year old's energy was almost nonexistent. Billy noticed this because he managed to catch his brother just before he could collapse on to the hospital floor.

"A little help please, in case it wasn't obvious I'm not the one with super strength here." Billy remarked as Hank took Max into his arms and laid him on the bed in the bare hospital room.

"Is he going to be okay?" questioned Nora who was looking over Max with worry apparent in her eyes.

"He'll be fine sweetie, it's just going to take some time that's all." Barb assured the eight year old.

In three hours time, Max came back to his senses on his own. The fact that he wasn't just a human anymore finally hit him, he was actually given a taste of what his family had grown accustomed to ever since he could remember. If he was being honest part of him was thrilled to no longer be the one left out of the family when it came to abilities. However the other part was terrified of what could come next for him with his father's enemy with this added to the mess.

"Now, how exactly am I supposed to control it?" he wondered aloud as he adjusted his position to where he could sit up.

The remaining Thundermans decided to find something in the vending machines since it was already past time for lunch and their hunger was becoming unbearable, leaving no one to judge Max for stating his thoughts in the open. As the question weighed on the teen's mind, he took notice of how his hands were beginning to shake significantly, much more than when his nerves would occasionally get the better of him.

"No, I can't handle this again right now.." Max murmured nervously as he forced his eyes shut and clenched his fists striving for control before he could teleport by mistake.

What took place within that moment the teen never would have been able to predict. As he clenched his fists for dear life, it felt as if he suddenly conjured up enough force to crack a remarkable amount of skin as well as the bones of his hands. Rather alarmed by this, Max put his actions to a halt and caught a glimpse of just what he had caused. Relief soon took over as what he imagined was going to be a catastrophe to repair was only redness from the unexpected amount of added pressure.

"I'm never going to catch a break am I?" he muttered under his breath.

"Hey Max." greeted Hank unexpectedly, nearly causing his son to jump out of his skin.

"Dad you scared the crap of me, where's the rest of the bunch?"

"Trying to figure out which snack is worth getting for the last dollar your mom put in the vending machine."

"Sounds like quite an event."

"You could say that, let's just say I left just in time to miss the laser light show."

"Oh geez."

"Yeah, so how are you doing?"

"I'm doing good."

"Then why are your hands trembling so much?" Hank observed, causing Max to become cautious of his actions and attempt to stop them with no triumph. "I know you only do that when you're nervous, what's wrong?"

"I..wait, you notice that?" Max asked in disbelief.

"Did you not think I did?"

"Well it seems like a small detail compared to other things you have to keep in mind."

"It's worth remembering." his father stated simply. "Now back to my original question.."

"Does the name Mr. Electric ring any bells?"

"I'm surprised you remember him..but to answer your question yes it does." Hank responded. "But what does he have to do with what I asked?"

"He's been communicating with me for nearly a week Dad, I didn't say anything beforehand because he said he'd come after me himself if I said anything.." he finally lifted off his chest. "Plus I caused this to happen, to say the least it caught me off guard."

Max then exposed the red patches due to pressure on the palms of his hands and his fingers. Hank was obviously not expecting this sight like his son but knew just what the cause was to bring an answer to one of the many questions flooding Max's mind.

"It's common when developing super strength, I had to deal with it too." explained Hank. "I must admit I always hoped one of you kids would inherit an ability from your mom or I, it's rare these days."

"Was it difficult to keep everything in control?" Max had to question, as the statement was a burning thought in his pool of wonders.

"it's difficult sometimes, but with time and a bit of practice you'll get the hang of it."

"Good to know.."

"We're going to do all we can as a family to help you figure things out, I can promise you that."

"Thanks Dad."

"You don't have to thank me, I'm going to try and find out if the dispute came to an end..try to get some rest okay?"

"I'll try my best, good luck."

"I'm probably going to need it." Hank admitted as he left the room to solve the mystery of what the rest of the family had been up to without them.

"Now that that's over, do you think it would be a good idea if some of us head back home for a while..I think the lack of entertainment is starting to take its toll." brought up Barb nearly twenty minutes after Hank had returned and the final snack to purchase had at last been decided on.

"I can't argue with you on that one." her husband agreed. "I'll stay here with Phoebe, you can take Billy and Nora home for now."

"Alright, just keep me up to date on how he's doing."

"I will, don't worry everything's going to be fine."

If only Hank had known just what Mr. Electric had in store for the Thunderman family. While Mr. Electric had clearly told Max he would capture him if any of his family members were to become aware of the villain's actions, he wasn't sure how well that would work out with Max's ability of teleportation added into the mix. If his revenge was going to be achieved, Mr. Electric was going to have to hit the teen with his last resort. As much as he hated to do it, the villain had to play the waiting game if the cards were to be in his favor in the end.

**I'm sorry about the wait for this chapter, long story short this week just wasn't my week. :( I hope this was okay and to just let everyone be aware of it, there will be no pairings for this based on how I want future chapters to go. Don't be afraid to let me know what you guys thought and thanks for reading. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Only a hour and a half had passed since Barb had left the hospital with Nora and Billy to return home for the time being and Hank had no update to give to his wife. As of now, a doctor was apparently having a lengthy observation of Max with intentions to discover what the best next step for the fifteen year old was. Phoebe seemed content for the moment with one of the dozens of magazines scattered across the hospital's waiting room. Hank however wasn't as fortunate for such and was left with his own thoughts until the doctor informed them of his advice as to what they should do next.

"_How could I not see this coming, I mean it was obvious with the rest of the kids.." _ Hank wondered to himself. _"And Mr. Electric, how in the world did he get out of prison..let alone know how to communicate with one of my own kids." _

Before he could have his puddle of questions overwhelm his thoughts, Hank's attention went to the doctor who had finally left his son's room and was heading in his direction.

"Mr. Thunderman correct?" the doctor greeted as Hank nodded and took notice of his name tag sewn on to his jacket that read _Dr. J. Reynolds_. "Based on the observations I took and from what your son explained to me, my advice would be to make sure he isn't in any majorly stressful situations that could cause him to trigger his powers by mistake."

"Do you have any suggestions as to how help Max control the teleportation, I'm not very familiar with that in particular."

"The early stages of power development are very unpredictable, but with that power it helps to keep all possible distractions out and have one's thoughts based solely on where they wish to teleport and in some cases who they wish to teleport along with them."

"That's pretty good, thank you Dr. Reynolds."

"No problem, now would you mind coming with me to sign your son's release papers?"

"Wouldn't mind at all, Phoebe I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Alright Dad." stated Phoebe who drew her concern away from the magazine to hear the conversation between her dad and Dr. Reynolds.

Instead of returning to the magazine that had sparked her interest at first, Phoebe chose to check in on her brother to make sure he was okay and that no further communication had occurred between him and Mr. Electric, because the last thing the family needed to happen was for one of their own to be kidnapped.

"How are you doing Max?"

"I'm alright, I think we'll be able to go home soon."

"As soon as Dad signs your release papers."

"Great."

"Has you know who made an appearance lately?"

"Surprisingly no, but I have a feeling that's not going to last." admitted Max.

"Have you told anyone else about it?"

"I told Dad before Dr. Reynolds came in."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing really..I mean he was obviously shocked about the whole thing but we ended up getting off of that subject pretty quickly."

"So he was avoiding the situation altogether?"

"No it wasn't like that at all Phoebe." her brother remarked immediately. "I was on the verge of teleporting before he came in and while trying to stop myself from screwing up..turns out I inherited Dad's super strength while nearly causing a catastrophe to my hands."

"You never screwed up Max, when it comes to figuring out new powers you never know what will happen." Phoebe explained. "You really have super strength?"

"Yeah, here's the proof." Max responded, who made his now bandaged hands obvious to his sister. "Doctor thought it might be best in case I add on to it."

"I'm sure you won't, you didn't know it could have happened."

"Still."

"Phoebe, Max, we can leave whenever you guys are ready." acknowledged Hank suddenly. "You two doing okay?"

"We're fine Dad, we'll be right behind you." spoke up Phoebe. "Did you let Mom know?"

"That's probably a good idea, thanks." Hank replied as he took his cell phone out of his pocket and called Barb to let her be aware of their need for a ride back home.

"Look, I know this is new to you Max but.."

"Can we just drop it Phoebe, I know eventually I'll figure all this out..but I really don't need to hear how you or the rest of the family gained control of your own powers right now." Max cut in.

"How did you know I was going to say that?"

"I figured it was a matter of time before someone would bring it up." he confessed. "I'm going to go find Dad."

Barb arrived about fifteen minutes later to pick up the remaining Thundermans from the hospital. Everyone soon came to realize during the ride home that something was troubling Max but before anyone could bring the subject up, Phoebe let them know he needed some space.

Once the family reached their final destination everything seemed to return to a sense of normalcy as the younger siblings went off to play a game of laser tag, Barb started preparing that night's dinner and Hank stumbling upon a special about a massively stuffed lasagna that he clearly was dreaming about devouring just based on his first glance of the concoction. Phoebe took this as an opportunity to do the same and continued working on school assignments she still had a few days left to complete. Max on the other hand wasn't as fortunate and couldn't just return straight back into the swing of things.

"_Something bothering you Max?" _Mr. Electric mocked._"Come on now, you can tell me can't you?" _

"_Can you just leave me alone?" _Max responded, fuming anger in his tone. _"You were right okay, I don't know how but you were..why don't you just come kidnap me already?" _

"_That's too easy my boy.." _

"_Then why was that your original threat?" _

"_Things were different, now you're not just a pawn I can use in my game." _

"_Great..now even the creeper in my own head thought I was nothing without these damn powers." _

"_Well what more do you expect to be in a world full of heroes and villains?" _

"_I don't need to explain myself to you, now that I'm actually something meaningful in your so called game what's the great scheme creeper?" _

"_I AM NOT A CREEPER I'M AN EVIL MASTERMIND!" _

"_Just tell me what in the world it is that you want from me!" _

"_That ruins the fun of the game Max, just wait and see what comes next." _

After that statement Mr. Electric's torment came to a close, as did the agonizing throb against the fifteen year old's skull that came with the remarks made. The 'game' the villain was creating was about to drive Max insane, all he wanted was some answers instead of another round of questions drilled into his mind. He knew his next decision wasn't going to be a great one, but he needed to at least try before the fear of messing up again consumed him. With a clear target set Max accomplished the task of teleporting out of his bedroom alone, now it was only where he ended up that he had to worry about.


	5. Chapter 5

As it turns out, more was required of Max then just having a clear idea of where he wanted to teleport. Instead of ending up face to face with Mr. Electric to stop the comments that were taunting him at this point, the young Thunderman merely made it to the family's living room where Hank was still glued to the food special and was thrown for a loop by his son's sudden entrance.

"How did you end up here so quickly?"

"Sorry Dad, it wasn't on purpose." Max stated immediately. "I just..I messed up and I'll try to not let it happen again."

"It's okay, you just surprised me that's all."

"Dinner's ready everyone!" called Barb as the remaining Thundermans made their way downstairs to the kitchen.

"I'm not really hungry right now..I'll be in my room if you need me."

"Umm..alright Max." Hank managed to respond just before his son disappeared without a trace. "Was it something I said?"

"I don't think so honey, just give him some time and he'll come around okay?" his wife advised.

While his family dug in to the spaghetti and garlic bread Barb prepared, Max was trying to figure out what exactly he was supposed to do now. The powers Mr. Electric needed to consider him a meaningful part of his game weren't working in his favor and the fifteen year old figured if he went to anyone in the family for help all he would receive as a response would be speeches about how 'we made it through this, you can too' or 'this all becomes easier with time'. He didn't really require the encouragement, what he needed was a plan to put Mr. Electric in his place and a good one at that.

No idea would come to mind, regardless of how much one was needed. Hoping to get some kind of peace away from the chaos, he blared _Secrets _into his headphones. Within twenty five minutes he became lost in the sound coming from his phone, so much that he hadn't even taken notice of Billy's presence until he zoomed by and yacked his brother's headphones out of his ears.

"What was that for?"

"I've been in here for ten minutes and you hadn't noticed, what was I supposed to do?"

"Sorry.." mumbled Max.

"No biggie..Mom wanted to know if you wanted to have dinner in here or in the kitchen, just so you know I think Dad's finishing off dessert."

"I'll eat in here, if it's possible I wouldn't mind a slice of Mom's chocolate cake either."

"I'll see what I can do." Billy replied as he left the room in the blink of an eye, returning in seconds with a plate of the night's dinner and a piece of cake to top it off. "You asked just in time."

"Thanks Billy."

"You're welcome and Dad wants to talk to you about something once you're finished, I don't know what I'm just the messenger."

"Alright little dude, you can tell Dad I'll be there as soon as I'm done."

"Got it!" responded Billy cheerfully as he flashed out of his brother's bedroom to complete his task of being messenger.

"_Probably wants to know where I tried to go off to." _the fifteen year old thought to himself. _"Guess I'll find out soon enough." _

By the time the clock in his bedroom displayed 8:53pm as clear as day, Max, with the dishes now free of food, went to figure out just what would be revealed to him. Once he put the plates in the dishwasher and noticed his dad sitting on the couch absorbed in his own thoughts, at least that was Max's guess, he took a seat beside him as ready as he would ever be for whatever was about to come out of his mouth.

"I want to apologize first off." began Hank. "I should have tried some method to help you figure out your powers as soon as we came home, but for whatever reason I chose not to and I'm sorry for that."

"You didn't do anything wrong Dad, I didn't expect to know everything about this as soon as we got home."

"I want to try and make it up to you..I know you're not familiar with the whole family training sessions but tomorrow if you feel up to it I'd appreciate it if you joined us." he went on. "I think that would be the best time for us as a family to come together and all work to support each other."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"Great, now I just have one question..were you trying to teleport on purpose or was it just a bizarre occurrence?"

"I..I was just trying to put a stop to it." Max confessed. "This is all just a great game to him and now with my powers added in I don't have a clue where any of us stand."

"You probably don't want to hear this right now, but if you want to have a fighting chance against Mr. Electric going after him on your own isn't going to help." Hank responded. "What do you mean when you say you're unsure as to where we stand?"

"His original threat was to kidnap me if I told anyone about him..but now that I'm a so called worthy pawn in this game he's gone back on that and I have absolutely no idea what he plans to do now."

"He's a hard villain to figure out I know that from experience, but you don't have to take this as a negative."

"How am I supposed to look at it differently, he's threatened all of us Dad."

"I know that, but I honestly believe he found a flaw in his game once he learned about your abilities and is trying to fix it."

"So what are we supposed to do?"

"Take this time to our advantage and come up with a plan of our own, starting tomorrow." Hank explained. "If I were you I'd try to get some rest, training sessions aren't easy the first time around."

"Alright I'm going.." remarked Max as he returned to his bedroom and crashed in ten minutes flat from the exhaustion that was just now hitting him from the eventful day the Thundermans had.

**Just to be safe I in no way, shape or form own the song _Secrets _by OneRepublic, I was just simply mentioning the song in the chapter. I want to apologize for the wait, I had a bit of a struggle figuring out where I wanted this chapter to go and finally had an idea I was pleased with, I hope you guys liked it as well. Feel free to let me know what your thoughts were and what you think I could improve on. Thanks so much for reading and I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

What felt like ages ago, he would either avoid the rest of the family's training sessions altogether or mainly wonder what it would be like to have the same as his family, while also paying attention to their actions on occasion. He never would have thought he would be a part of it, yet here it was in reality.

"Come on Nora, you've got this." Phoebe encouraged her sister, who was currently trying her hardest to become invisible, but in the half hour that passed she hadn't had any success. "Just picture yourself being invisible."

"It's easier said than done.." grumbled Nora who at this point was ready to move on. "Why do I have to jump right into mastering this power when I just found out about it?"

"It's best to get a general idea of how to keep control early on, I've told you this." remarked Phoebe.

"Alright you two, why don't you come outside with me Phoebe to check on your Dad and Billy..Nora why don't you see if Max can help you?" Barb suggested as she took notice of the bickering between the siblings.

"If you say so.." Nora muttered as Barb and Phoebe went outside the Thunderman house to see what Hank and Billy were doing. "Any advice Max?"

"This is really bothering you isn't it?"

"Kind of, I mean it's like Phoebe expects me to know everything there is to know about being invisible..when really I have known about this for three weeks and managed to become invisible once by accident in my bedroom."

"I can understand that.." Max put in. "How did you feel when you became invisible?"

"What?"

"How were you feeling when it happened?"

"Umm..I was terrified, at first I hadn't even realized I was invisible but once I figured it out the panic sunk deeper and I didn't have a clue how to return to normal."

"What did you do to return to normal?"

"I just kept telling myself that I could do it."

"There you go."

"Wait what?"

"You just have to focus on the fact that you can do it and not on anything else." her brother explained.

"Okay.."

Nora followed his advice and drilled in her mind over and over again that she was able to become invisible and go back to normal. In the matter of a few minutes, the eight year old had disappeared without a trace.

"You did it." Max acknowledged. "Now you just have to come back."

Once she took in her brother's statement, she blocked all possible distractions and focused solely on returning back to her previous state. Ten minutes had passed when she returned to Max's vision, which shifted from blurry to begin with to a clear sight within a minute.

"Nice going Nora."

"I really did it?" she stated in disbelief as Max nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem kid."

The Thundermans were able to complete a 'target practice' for Nora's laser vision, an obstacle course accustomed for Billy's super speed and an one on one session between Phoebe and Barb discussing then using various ways involving the ability that had awoken Max the day before in two hours time. While Phoebe brought Billy and Nora inside the house for a much needed break, Hank and Barb were giving Max a training session of his own.

"We're going to start with your super strength since Mom still needs to do a little research about the teleportation." stated Hank. "Everyone has their limits, we're going to figure out what yours is."

For the next fifteen minutes, Hank tested Max's strength with various heavy objects from a one hundred pound weight to the family's lawn mower and while growing tired, Max didn't appear to struggle that much. It was what his dad said next that threw him off guard.

"Now you and I are going to push off each others' ability." he began. "What I mean by that is while I'm going to use my strength to push you against the house you are going to resist me while also trying to push me against the gate, does that make sense?"

"I'm trying to get you against the gate and resist you, while you're trying to get me against the house while resisting me?"

"You've got it..ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

The match was on between the two Thundermans. Max at first was determined as ever to prove himself to his dad and came close to accomplishing the task of getting Hank against the gate, but as time progressed just resisting Hank's comebacks became a challenge. Max eventually lost the match and ended up nearly slammed against the outside walls of the Thunderman household.

"Okay, can you please explain this to me?" Max questioned once he got up from the ground.

"Alright tell me this Max, how much effort did you use when we started?"

"I don't know, probably a lot since I never really lifted anything of that size before."

"Then when it came to going against me what happened?"

"I had used up a majority of my energy already?"

"Exactly, so now you know that when in any type of situation you can't use your ability in uneven amounts, or else you lose the advantage in the end where it counts."

"I never would have thought of that in a million years."

"Well that's why I'm here."

Since Barb still needed to gather additional information, the two took time to see what the other Thundermans were up to which included Nora explaining how Max helped her before to Billy and Phoebe now working alongside Barb to give her own knowledge on teleportation.

"How are you holding up so far?" questioned Phoebe once she finished giving Barb her input.

"I'm fine Phoebe..I may be a newbie at this but I can handle it."

"I didn't say you couldn't, I was just curious."

"So what did you tell Mom?"

"You'll find that out soon enough." remarked his sister.

"I guess I had that coming."

"You'd be right about that one."

"Fair enough."

"Max, I think we're ready to see how your teleportation works." Barb suddenly stated.

"Aright, let's do this."


	7. Chapter 7

From the looks he received from Phoebe and their parents, Max was positive this was going to become nothing more than an interrogation session. He knew they were using their best efforts to help, but honestly this was the last thing he wanted to happen.

"Just answer our questions the best you can.." Phoebe spoke up.

"Fine, shoot."

"When did you first teleport on purpose?" Barb started off.

"When Phoebe found me in my room yesterday."

"What were you feeling in that moment?"

"The need to get back to the hospital as quickly as possible."

"Why such urgency?" Hank asked.

"I knew how everyone was worried about where I went..I just wanted to put an end to the problem I caused."

"None of this was your fault, things happen that just aren't in our control."

"That may explain why Nora, Billy and I transported with him to the hospital..he was thinking about all of us." mentioned Phoebe suddenly.

"It's a possibility." Barb agreed.

"Now when you teleported into the living room, what was going through your mind?" continued Hank.

"Too many things at once." Max admitted. "Panic, anger, confusion, the feeling that I had to deal with all of it there and then or else it would never go away.."

"Did you get a clear idea of where you wanted to go?"

"Yeah, but more like a who than where."

"Okay I think I can tell what the difference was." Barb responded. "Your emotions were on completely different scales, making it relatively harder to follow through with where you were attempting to go."

"So how am I supposed to fix it?"

"You have to find the best way to calm yourself down."

"Now with that said, Phoebe suggested beforehand that we test your ability as best as we can." Hank added in.

"Let's do it, the faster I figure all this out the better it will be for all of us." Max responded immediately.

Their plan was simple enough: give him two locations, one that he would be able to transport to easily while the other would cause him to have to keep his emotions in check if he wanted to go there with no problems.

"Alright, the first location is Hiddenville Park." explained Phoebe. "Once you get there, look out for Dad or Billy and head back here."

"Got it."

"Good luck Max." encouraged Nora.

"Thanks."

Within a few minutes Max came to experience just what the sensation of teleporting was truly like, it was as if he was engulfed in a space all his own, frozen in time with a sense of uncertainty filling the air. Yet just as swiftly as it came, the fifteen year old returned to reality. Once he gained his footing Max realized here he was, in Hiddenville Park just as he was meant to be.

"What do you know, they were right after all." Max muttered to himself as he kept his eye out for either his brother or father.

Once Billy had found his brother and sped the two back home it was time to give the second location to test if what the family thought about his ability was true or false.

"This time you're going to try and go to Metroburg." Barb replied, which immediately sparked Max's attention.

"You really think that's the best idea?"

"Just trust us, everything's going to be fine." Hank stated. "I'll be there in no time."

While a part of him was screaming against going back to the family's hometown he knew if he really wanted control of his powers, he had to face his fears.

"_You can do this.." _

"_Just relax.." _

"_Nothing is going to happen..not again." _

These were on repeat who knows how many times to prevent a wave of panic from breaking to the surface. What felt like centuries later, Max had done it. He was back where all the bad memories took place, ones that he still had haunt him on occasion. All he had to do now was find his dad in the town they once considered home and he would never have to return, at least that's what he was hoping for.

"Well I sure never thought I would stumble upon _you _in Metroburg again." a voice sneered. "The family screw up, Max Thunderman."

The bitter words came from non other than Caspar Elliott, who's sole purpose in life was to make sure Max's life was a living nightmare, at least it used to be. The two had been best friends what seemed like lifetimes ago, funny how life turns things upside down. They both were a part of the handful without powers in Metroburg, with that brought countless teasing from classmates and adults alike which they overcame together. All that fell apart when Caspar discovered his power to create and control fire at will at age eleven. The once best friends drifted apart, Max was left on his own while Caspar became buddies with his former tormentors and picked up on their mockery ways.

At first it was pranks and occasional name calling, but with time it grew to physical bullying that Max had grown to become numb to and hid like a pro. But regardless of all of this, Caspar was sent over the edge just a few short months ago. He had made a proposition with Max: he wouldn't beat him to a pulp if Max was willing to sneak into the school after hours and find the answers to an upcoming test that was a large fraction of their grade. The next day when school was dismissed and Caspar and his friends gathered at Max's locker for his part of the deal and found nothing, they held nothing back when it came to tearing their classmate to shreds.

When the young Thunderman was found out cold a hour and a half later with a black eye, broken wrist and burns scattered across his back and arms in a ditch near the school, the rest of the family was now well aware that Metroburg wasn't what it once was to them and the family moved to Hiddenville days later. Hank and Barb made sure Caspar and his friends were taught a lesson and were expelled from the school for their doings. Since then, Caspar desired more than anything to face Max again and make him pay for what damage he caused.

"I'll be nonexistent before you know it."

"No, why don't you stick around and have a trip down memory lane?"

"I'll pass."

"I wasn't giving you a choice Thunderman..you tore my whole life apart and now you're going to pay."

Before he could even process what was coming next, Caspar had already thrown fistfuls of fire towards him making its mark straightaway on Max's right shoulder.

"That great family of super heroes couldn't teach you how to fight?" mocked Caspar. "Doesn't surprise me really, they were pretty crummy at their jobs."

"Shut up..my family has nothing to do with this." Max groaned as his shoulder hissed in pain. "I didn't come here for a fight, and I don't plan on being a part of one."

"You're persistent I'll give you that, but I didn't ask for your input."

"I'm aware, now if you'll excuse me..I'm leaving."

"You really think I'm just going to let you slip away?" the tormentor raged. "Think again..while you and that family of yours were away in shame, I gained something I think you'll enjoy."

Within seconds, Max was surrounded by at least a dozen copies of the boy who longed for his disappearance from planet Earth.

"Let the real fun begin." his voice echoed as all of them came charging engulfed in orange flames.

"_You can do this..just think about home." _Max thought desperately, attempting to block out all possible distractions as the heat Caspar created was beginning to rattle his nerves remarkably.

Just when the scorching flames began to burn the surface of Max's skin, he teleported away from the place of his demons and left the fuming Caspar at a loss for words.

**I apologize for not posting this sooner, I had a tough time figuring out where I wanted this to go from here. (again..I'm so sorry guys. :/) With that said, I do hope you guys liked it. To be honest, I had this idea for the reason the Thundermans moved to Hiddenville for quite a while but when I originally wanted to put it in this fic the timing just wasn't right to me. Feel free to express what you thought in a review, I'll really appreciate hearing what you think so far. Thanks for reading! :) **


	8. Chapter 8

When her brother suddenly flashed into her bedroom Phoebe's initial reaction was to question why, their dad was supposed to return home any minute with him by his side. Then Max finally spoke up, his voice coated in too many emotions to decode.

"I ran into Caspar."

His words brought Phoebe into shock. The cruel hot-headed boy who tortured her twin for how long she didn't know, once again made his mark on him. She wanted to scream, to pinch herself until she awoke from this nightmare, but the logical part of her knew this was no fantasy gone wrong.

"Phoebe?"

"Sorry..are you okay?"

"Depends on how you define okay.."

Max could only focus on the ache in his shoulder once the statement left his lips. Phoebe disappeared from the room in a blur, which he knew wasn't a good sign. When his classmates had surrounded him those few months ago and beat him up to no end, he somehow managed to remain conscious until nearly the end of their doings. Now a single major burn was about to get to him? His vision was beginning to turn to infinite pools of black, and rightfully took over just as his parents caught sight of him.

"Phoebe how did this happen?" exclaimed Hank just as Max lost consciousness.

"Caspar." she stated numbly. "This is all my fault."

"Sweetie this isn't your fault, if anything Caspar is to blame." Barb responded. "Let's just accept what life has thrown at us and get through it."

"Fine, what do you want me to do?"

"You and your father can make sure Billy and Nora don't see any of this, I'll take care of Max."

"But Mom.."

"Phoebe don't argue with your mother, let's go." Hank cut in as they left together to leave Barb as she requested.

"What did Max do to deserve any of this?" Phoebe suddenly remarked as the two were coming down the stairway. "I mean first it was Mr. Electric threatening him over and over within his own freaking mind, then came the powers he had no idea how to manage now Caspar has to step in and screw up the one good thing he's gotten from all the bad."

"Even though all of this clearly isn't fair..he'll pull through Phoebe."

Barb was starting to put her healing ability to good use, just as she had done when Hank arrived to their home in Metroburg with Max's lifeless body in his arms. She hated that her son had to deal with people that were so mistreating, but in reality there was no way she could protect him or any of her family from the bad life threw at them no matter how much she wished she was able. She could feel for herself just how much pain her son had been in before the ache took over, it tore her to pieces just to imagine what he thought throughout all of the mess he's faced.

"Focus Barb." she mumbled to herself as she drew her attention back to the task before her.

Thirty minutes passed before Barb felt she had done all she could to heal Max from the burns. Just as she was looking over her son in his current state, his eyes sparked open taking in his surroundings and recalling what had taken place.

"Thanks Mom."

"No need to thank me, it's just what mothers do."

"Still."

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"There's not much to talk about..I made it to Metroburg, Caspar miraculously found me and wanted revenge for ruining his life then I got away before he could cause anymore major damage."

"Are you still in pain?"

"I'm just sore..it could be a lot worse." replied Max as he got to his feet. "How long was I out?"

"Not very long.."

"I guess that's a plus."

"I guess so." Barb stated lightly.

The day from then on passed by smoothly, a game of Monopoly took place for the next four hours in which Nora won thanks to her ownership of Parks Place that also had a hotel on the property.

"I was so close!" Billy cried out.

"Extremely close, but as it turns out I won." Nora replied with a smile.

"That's enough Nora." Barb put in. "Would everyone be okay with takeout tonight, that game lasted longer than I expected."

Once a chorus of yes's filled the room and the game was cleared from the dining table, Barb ordered the family's dinner while Hank and Billy devoted this time to grow their collection of lint, Nora turned her attention to a movie on TV, Phoebe decided to video chat Cherry in her bedroom and Max went into his bedroom as well, left to wonder what was going to happen now.

"You told me he wouldn't be able to escape Caspar."

"You didn't tell me he could freaking teleport Travis, what did you expect me to do?"

"I knew I had too much confidence in you, you know he won't be happy to hear about this right?"

"Really..that hadn't even come to my mind." shot back Caspar sarcastically.

"Your sarcasm's noted." Travis stated dryly. "I'll handle it next time around, that way you can't mess up."

"But what about the.."

"I can handle it, just do us both a favor and either do what you supposed to the first time or stay out of the way."

"Some brother you are." Caspar snapped.

"Well what do you want me to do?" his sibling raged, his almond brown eyes expressing his frustration. "Look..I'm sorry okay, but we're not in the best of situations and the last thing any of us need is to ruin what we have so close in our grasp."

"I get it, just give me all the details next time if that's not too much to ask."

"I thought you knew, that was my fault and I'll let him know that."

"Good, because I'm not saying a word of this to him."

"Oh come on Caspar!"

Once dinner had been devoured, sleep sounded like sweet paradise to everyone in the Thunderman household. However, that delightful bliss called slumber was easier to picture than to actually accomplish for some.

"_Come on, what ever happened to that kid who actually had a decent comeback to throw?" _

"_He left a long time ago Caspar, now can you just leave me alone?" _

"_I'm afraid not..you knew what I wanted and you still didn't listen." _

After that, all the outrage of fire, untamed might of kicks and punches meant for a brand new punching bag flashed back furiously through his mind, leaving the nightmare stricken fifteen year old gasping for air and drenched in sweat when he woke up.

"Damn it." he mumbled as he realized that four o'clock in the morning had arrived just like that.

Knowing very well he wouldn't be able to return to sleep, Max dragged himself downstairs to get a glass of water in hopes it would help his now dry throat become a thing of the past. Then the cherry to top off his trouble filled night just had to make its appearance.

"_I see your past still comes to haunt you, maybe if you were to listen to me those problems could be put to rest?" _

"_How would you be any benefit to me?" _Max responded with annoyance.

"_I'm guessing your father never told you or was never aware, but I'm the one who caused your nightmare..I have many abilities that you could only dream of obtaining." _

"_Story of my life sparky." _

"_I thought you craved answers from me boy..why pass up the opportunity to earn some here and now?" _

"_Because.." _the teen began to object but was left at a loss for words.

Mr. Electric did have a point, the one thing he wanted could be given to him on a platter and he was questioning it? At the same time, his father's advice from before was drilling its way to his attention.

"_..going after him on your own isn't going to help you." _

"_Nice try creeper, but I'm not falling for it." _

"_Fair enough I suppose, just remember that was your choice." _

Just so happens that Max wasn't the only Thunderman awake at this hour of the night.

"What did he have to say this time around?"

"Why does everyone keep sneaking up on me so easily?" wondered Max as the headache he gained from the message began to slowly subside. "I'm guessing I woke you up?"

"No you didn't..I had a bad dream." Phoebe responded simply.

"What happened?"

"It was about you and Caspar, when he hurt you the first time." she stated lightly, hoping her confession wouldn't upset her brother. "I'm not sure if it's exactly what happened, but it appeared accurate based on what injuries you had that day."

"Was it slow at first..then like watching a series of clips really quickly?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I think we had the same dream Pheebs.."

"That's not possible, we can't have the _exact same dream_."

"How much do you want to bet?"

"Fine, what happened then?"

"Caspar started off by asking where the kid was that actually had decent comebacks, I said he was gone a long time ago, then he went on to say that even when I had known exactly what he wanted from me, I still didn't listen to him." Max replied. "After that it was as if the beating I got afterwords was a slide show sped up."

"That's freaky on so many levels.."

"Try having to live it."

"So that was what really happened?"

"Yeah it was, I just don't understand why he would show my memories to you.."

"I'm sorry, _what?"_

"Mr. Electric caused the nightmare, he said he had many abilities I could only dream of and that I better remember my choice of not accepting his offer for answers."

"Let me get this straight, he has the ability to retrieve memories of yours and use them to cause a nightmare for us to share?"

"Apparently."

"I honestly wonder what is going through this guy's head."

"Me and you both." her brother admitted. "How does any of this add up?"

"We'll try and figure this out later, in case you've forgotten we have school in the morning."

"You're right..night Pheebs."

"Goodnight Max."


	9. Chapter 9

While his sister returned to her bedroom for a few hours rest, Max couldn't help but stay up and try to put these puzzle pieces together. Why had Mr. Electric brought his sister in the mix? Was she his next target? So many questions blared their way into his path that eventually he had fallen asleep on the living room couch whilst trying to write each one down on sticky notes scattered across the table to attempt at sorting them out.

As Phoebe was getting ready for the upcoming school day at seven thirty that morning, she couldn't help but wonder why she shared the nightmare with her brother. She had a taste of the power this villain contained and wasn't sure what to make of it, then again she wasn't a main target in the villain's grasp right? What was she supposed to do, play it off as if it never occurred or dig herself deeper into the situation? She didn't have a clue and that alone sent shivers down her spine.

"Are you almost ready for school Phoebe?" called Nora loudly, tearing her away from her inner thoughts.

"Yeah Nora, I'm coming!" she responded quickly as she grabbed her backpack and headed for where her family would be waiting.

The car ride to school that morning should have been like any other with Billy and Nora expressing their excitement for the upcoming events of the day, Barb solely focused on driving as she should, Max blasting music through his headphones and Phoebe checking repeatedly that she was prepared for that school day, but that wasn't the case. The younger Thunderman siblings and Barb were following through with their routine without even being aware of their actions, Max and Phoebe were the ones throwing routine out the window with muffled whispers to each other.

"Pheebs would you just relax..he isn't making you his next target." Max assured his sister again.

"How do you know..you weren't even aware of this ability of his until a few hours ago."

"Just trust me okay?" her brother pleaded. "I think he's just trying to throw everything off by bringing you into this..which by the way you're reacting seems to be doing it's job."

"Oh shut up, I'm fine."

"Then prove it to me.."

"Done."

"Good."

"Are you two alright back there?" asked Barb suddenly as the twins realized she was waiting for them to leave the vehicle to head to school.

"Sorry Mom, we just were a bit sidetracked that's all." Phoebe replied smoothly.

"Okay..go on ahead Phoebe, I need to talk with Max about something."

"Okay."

As much as she wanted to eavesdrop on the conservation, Phoebe knew what her mom was telling Max wasn't meant for her ears. Luckily, she caught sight of Cherry nearby before she could change her mind and attempt to run back to find somewhere to hide in order to overhear what the two were discussing.

"Max I want you to be truthful with me..do you feel confident in going to school right now?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you haven't had the best track record sweetie." Barb answered lightly. "I know you're doing your best, but we can't afford your powers being exposed."

To be honest, Max hadn't even had that thought come to mind. Now that it was there, the anxiety of messing up grew just that much more. He couldn't be the reason his family were sent to a laboratory to be picked apart like lab rats but at the same time, he couldn't handle being pitied that much more for being afraid to return to school. He _needed_ an escape from his troubles, even if it meant that school was the way to get it.

"I can handle it Mom, honestly." spoke up Max finally.

"If you have sign of trouble your father and I are a phone call away okay?"

"I know..everything's going to be fine Mom."

"Alright, have a good day Max."

"Thanks."

Half of the school day was already gone and no problems were encountered. Now it was time for Max's least favorite class, chemistry. The subject itself wasn't what caused the dislike, the teacher Mr. Perkins was what sucked the enjoyment out of it.

"Alright class, today we are going to be doing a required safety test." began Mr. Perkins which received a groan in unison by the students. "Oh enough of the displeasure, the test is on paper as well as with the equipment in our possession which you will have today and some of the class period tomorrow to finish."

As Mr. Perkins continued his lecture, Max and Phoebe both seemed lost in their own worries. Phoebe immediately broke out of her trace the second she realized her doings, Max wasn't so lucky.

"_Hello Max, how's school going for you?" _ Mr. Electric smirked as if he actually cared, which of course he didn't as a dark chuckle came directly after his statement.

"_Why in the world do you even care, I know you have to keep messing with me..but leave my sister out of it." _

"_I make no such promises." _

"_I mean it sparky..leave. Phoebe. alone." _

"_Even if I said yes, why would you trust a villain?" _

"_What kind of..you have a point, enough of the mind games creeper just do it!" _

"_Very well, I'll just have more fun with you." _

"Max Thunderman!" retorted Mr. Perkins as he finally caught the boy's attention since the villain had nothing left to say.

"S-Sir?"

"You honestly didn't hear a word I just said did you?"

"No sir.." muttered the fifteen year old.

"Just..work with your sister please, maybe she'll knock some sense into you." Mr. Perkins responded with a sigh as he returned to the newspaper awaiting him on his desk.

A series of oohh's by the students followed the teacher's remark and at this point all Max wanted to do was hide. Phoebe seemed to want to do the same as he approached her lab table across the room and was told softly by his sister the instructions given by Mr. Perkins.

"Are you okay Max?" she asked once he had the needed lab gear on and returned to their lab station.

"I'm fine Phoebe, why wouldn't I be?" he stated through gritted teeth as the headache from Mr. Electric's message from a few minutes before was still raging on.

"Don't just let this slide, what did he tell you?"

"I told him to leave you alone, hopefully he'll actually follow through with what he said." Max answered. "Now can we just get this done before Mr. Perkins yells again?"

"Don't let him get to you." Phoebe responded calmly. "Just.."

"Max!" Mr. Perkins blurted out without warning. "I thought putting you with my best student would help you, I guess you can't listen to anyone's directions..just stop fooling around before you bring her down with you."

"Yes sir." Max replied as he took a beaker in his hand to examine it for signs of damage.

"Max hand me the beaker..you can record our observations." Phoebe spoke up as she noticed her brother's grip on the glass becoming tighter.

"I can handle a beaker Pheebs." he responded while he tried to block out the words the teacher had said that were now adding on to the headache which together made his grip intensify.

"I know you can but you need to calm down, just relax and give it to me okay?"

"Okay, here." Max gave in as he passed the equipment to his sister as he tried to follow her advice.

As she looked carefully over the glass, Max couldn't help but catch a faint crack just where he was holding it moments before. He hadn't felt the glass crack between his fingers, to be fair though the assignment hadn't been his main concern.

"_Just breathe..you're fine and he isn't going to mess with your head." _Max thought repeatedly as he managed to slowly relax.

The sad part was, Max wasn't sure if it was Mr. Perkins or Mr. Electric he was referring to when he said 'he'. By the time Phoebe let the teacher be aware of the cracked glassware, Max seemed to have himself back together.

"For the overall observation just put that we had the correct equipment, note that the beaker was cracked though." Phoebe explained.

"Sorry about that..Mr. Perkins chew you out about it?"

"No, but I honestly think he cares more about that newspaper than how the class is doing." admitted his sister. "You feeling any better?"

"Fair enough." Max replied. "Yeah I'm okay..just a bit of a headache."

"Aren't they usually gone by now?"

"Yeah, but with the teacher yelling and you know who adding in their input I can imagine it's going to last a while." admitted Max with a sigh. "Don't worry about me, it's my problem not yours."

"I'm your sister, of course I'm going to worry about you." Phoebe stated as if it was obvious. "Just finish that up so we won't have to deal with Mr. Perkins after the bell."

"Understood."

With class over and lunch passing by in a blur, that meant there was only two classes away from dismissal which was the only thing keeping Max going at this point. History was as boring as you would expect, Mrs. Wayne would do one of three things: give a lecture that required at least a page worth of notes to fully understand the lesson, a test you would hope you made a decent score on or a video that would seem like a great idea at first but would come with at least fifteen facts to turn in at the end of class. Today was a lecture day, by the time the bell rang Max's hand was cramping thanks to his attempt at taking notes which he doubted would be any good.

"_At least he didn't have anything to say..now it's just Math with Mr. Fryer and you're home free." _

As soon as Max entered the classroom and took his seat, he recalled just how much math displeased him. Today everyone was going to receive their results from the test they took on Friday and Max could probably bet that he bombed it. He wouldn't know for sure until the near end of class, for Mr. Fryer liked to have the new lesson fresh in his student's minds before they were aware of their standings on the lesson before.

While Mr. Fryer went on about explaining the new material, Max honestly tired to take notes to look over later on but within twenty minutes of class doodles took up a majority of Max's paper. Once he gave the assignment for the day which consisted of twenty questions Max could tell just by glancing at it he would have no chance in completing this in class, as usual.

Just as he assumed, Max only finished a quarter of the work by the time class was nearly done and Mr. Fryer asked everyone to put away their belongings so he could hand the graded tests out. While some students beamed in pleasure over their earned grade, Max was a part of the bunch who weren't too pleased with their standings.

"Max I have to say I expected more from you, at the beginning of the year you were doing fairly well and now that's not the case." Mr. Fryer admitted as he handed him the paper marked with several red marks and a clear as day sixty two circled in red ink. "If you are able, I would recommend coming to my tutoring sessions before or after school."

"I'll see what I can do Mr. Fryer." stated Max as he looked over his mistakes marked on the paper.

"Very well." he replied as he continued handing out the tests he had graded.

"_Aw, Max isn't doing so well in Math class..how unfortunate." _Mr. Electric chimed in.

"_Aw shut up sparky..I've had enough of you." _

"_I only wanted to bring something to your attention, then I'll be on my merry way for now." _

"_What?" _

"_That old friend of yours, Caspar was it?" _

"_What about him?" _Max responded with anger growing in his tone.

"_He's become..an acquaintance of mine I suppose you could say, just keep your eyes open for him and a someone he knows fairly well." _

"_Noted." _

"_Alright, I know where I'm not wanted." _

Out of all the blows the creeper could have thrown, he went with this. Caspar had his own ties with Mr. Electric, which looking back could explain how he encountered him back in Metroburg. As much as he wanted to scream out in rage and disbelief, Max bit his tongue and tried to push away the added pounding against his skull as he awaited the bell's arrival which wasn't successful in the slightest. The bell did eventually ring though and it was with that Max had the worry of further contact from his father's foe during school hours off his shoulders.


	10. Chapter 10

No matter how much of an attempt he made, Max couldn't focus on the schoolwork laying simply on his desk in his bedroom. His thoughts were else where and he was very aware of it. He could ask Phoebe for help since she too had Mr. Fryer just during a different class period, but really considering this Max knew he would only become even more frustrated.

"Who am I kidding, I'm not going to get this done.." murmured Max in defeat. "Sparky has already made his next move and I still have nothing.."

Before Max even had a second to consider his options, Nora opened Max's bedroom door ever so slightly and just so happened to catch her brother's attention by doing so.

"Hey Nora, everything okay?" Max replied as Nora shyly entered the room.

"Yeah I'm fine, I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go somewhere with Phoebe and I?"

"Where to exactly?" her brother responded curiously.

"I can't tell you..you're just have to trust me." Nora answered with a giggle. "I promise it's worth it if you say yes."

"Does Phoebe know you're asking me this?"

"Yes Max she does, it was her idea she just asked me to ask you since she's getting ready..so are you in or not?" responded Nora as if it was obvious.

"Alright I'm in."

"Great, you may want to bring some spare clothes and a drink..just a suggestion." Nora hinted. "Oh, and wear a decent pair of shoes."

"Clothes, shoes and a drink..got it."

"We'll leave in a bit." Nora stated as she left without anything left to inform her brother about.

Max prepared a backpack with some extra clothes which consisted of a plain maroon t-shirt, a white tank top and black gym shorts. He also put in his phone along with his headphones, just in case. As he slipped on his rather worn but still sturdy white Converse he started to think Phoebe and Nora were wanting to bring him along to run or something, but Nora had promised this was worth it and his younger sister never kidded around when it came to something she enjoyed so he would have to trust Nora's word.

He then left his bedroom with the backpack secure on his back and headed for the kitchen to quickly grab a grape Gatorade to put in his bag as well. Phoebe seemed to beat him to it however, as she put in her own bag the last grape Gatorade in the refrigerator.

"Nora tell you what you what to bring?" asked Phoebe as she began throwing her hair back in a secure ponytail.

"She did, Mom and Dad know where we're going right?"

"Of course they do, this is me we're talking about Max." his twin stated. "Sorry for taking the last Gatorade, water okay with you?"

"Water works."

"Here you go."

"Thanks..so can you tell me where we're going?"

"Not yet, but Nora should be ready any time now."

Just as Phoebe predicted Nora came descending down the stairs seconds later, fully prepared for what was ahead of them. Instead of finding Hank or Barb close behind, Nora simply lifted the entire statue that the family used to switch the family photos for when guests would arrive. By her doing this, a medium sized light blue button was revealed. This confused Max, because usually the statue's head was pushed and that was all.

"Am I the only one that doesn't know about this?" Max wondered as Phoebe caught sight of her twin's stunned expression.

"No Billy doesn't know about it..Mom thought it could be a place just for her and Dad at first but then I found out about it on accident when I moved the statue out of place so Mom let me use it too."

"How did you figure this out Nora?"

"I caught Dad going inside in the middle of the night a couple days ago..so I asked Phoebe about it and she let me tag along with her today."

"It's basically just a getaway place, follow me you two." Phoebe stated as Nora and Max both followed their sister's instructions and watched as she pushed against the now bare wall which usually displayed the family's portrait now somehow became a door. The ground beneath their feet miraculously transformed into small pebbles and rough rocks once everyone was fully inside, yet it was still smooth enough to walk upon with ease. The landscape itself was breathtaking, which included numerous shady trees of large sizes just surrounding the corners, a soft remarkable wind that was just enough to keep you cool hitting the surface of your skin, a small room hidden within the depths of the trees in the right corner and a sunset in the center of everything that was in perfect view which had smears of purples, pinks, oranges and yellows which were too delicate to describe in full detail.

"I refer to this as a cliff with a view.." Phoebe stated suddenly. "If you head towards the sunset you can sit and have your legs dangle from the end..I assure you that it's perfectly safe."

Nora had to ask. "What's down at the bottom?"

"Mom and Dad's training space..this room has countless amount of levels so if you wanted to make your own you could, but you have to ask first." Phoebe answered as both her siblings had a sigh of relief.

"What do you usually do here?" wondered Max curiously.

"Depends on my mood.." Phoebe answered truthfully. "Today I thought this was the perfect place where we could just do what we wanted."

"Sounds good to me." Nora replied as she headed for the hidden room which Phoebe explained had any supplies and necessities they could need.

"Why did you want me to come?" Max had to question. He appreciated that Phoebe let him be aware of this hidden treasure, but something in the back of his mind thought his sister wasn't just offering a kind gesture.

"I thought we could blow off some steam." stated his twin. "If you want, we could train for a bit."

"Sure, we should change first though."

"Yeah we should."

Phoebe and Max went in the same direction as Nora had and went into their own separate rooms to prepare for the activities they wanted to partake in. Nora decided to remain in her own personal room with a spotless notebook and glitter pens at hand to create her heart's desire across the notebook pages, which consisted of coming up with new games to play with Billy, new bow patterns she could try and doodles typical of an eight year old.

Phoebe was the one to first come to their arrival spot, now wearing a light pink tank top, black Soffe shorts with pink accents across the sides and light pink Nike's while her hair still remained in a ponytail. Max came only minutes after his sister since he wasn't quite as familiar with everything as she was.

"So, what do you want to work on?" Max wondered.

"Basic fighting movements?" suggested Phoebe.

"I haven't picked up on that..ever."

"Come on Max you're a Thunderman for crying out loud..just follow your instincts."

"You're joking right?"

"Just trust yourself Max, you might be surprised."

"Not exactly my strong suit.." mumbled Max to himself. "Alright Pheebs, let's see if you're right about this one."

Phoebe immediately went into a prepared stance with her focus clear yet patient for her brother's assurance that he was ready. He tried to follow her example, but something was just awkward about the idea of copying his sister's movements.

"_You're not Phoebe so stop trying to be." _Max thought quickly to himself. _"Just trust yourself." _

Once Max seemed to have a comfortable stance and gave her a simple nod, Phoebe went for it. She threw a punch which Max caught with his hand moments before it came in direct contact with him, which caught them both by surprise. The two continued on with several more punches and even a couple of light kicks, which brought forward no injuries since they both had protective gear on underneath their clothes that were supplied in the small rooms. Even though Phoebe had more experience when it came to this, Max had nearly matched her level which shocked him greatly.

"I guess fighting's in our DNA." Max joked as he and Phoebe chose to take a break to catch their breath.

"I tried to tell you." Phoebe responded. "Want to make things a bit more interesting?"

"How so?"

"We see who could last longer in a fight using only use one power each and the movements we just went over."

"I'm up for it."

"Loser has to do the dishes tonight?" Phoebe suggested.

"If that's how you want to spend your night." smirked her brother.

Within five minutes the twins were back at it. Max chose to use teleportation to his advantage while Phoebe decided her force fields may just work in her favor. Just as Phoebe would go for a kick, Max would react and teleport maybe a foot away before she even regained her footing. Max seemed to face a similar issue because as he attempted to throw a punch, the protective shell was already surrounding his sister and sent him stumbling backwards in response to the shield. This went on for quite a bit of time until Phoebe caught Max off guard at the right moment and was declared victorious.

"Good match Max, but I'm afraid you're doing the dishes tonight." Phoebe replied with a smile as she went to tell Nora they were preparing to leave the hidden treasure she had shared with them.

The next few hours ticked by like seconds and before the family knew it another day had slipped through their fingers. The exhaustion was obvious in Max by the time he had finished cleaning the dishes as he promised he went down to his bedroom sluggishly and crashed within minutes into what he had hoped would be a pleasant slumber. Max couldn't have been more wrong.


	11. Chapter 11

You know that place where you're aware that you're dreaming? Some are even able to control their dream while in this state, but this wasn't quite the case for Max. His 'dream self' was in a place completely unknown to him, surrounded by what he thought to be a technology junkie's paradise. Several gadgets were spread across the walls of this place, flashing buttons and switches galore. Just as the fifteen year old was about to begin searching around this tech obsessed area, a face he hadn't seen in years made his appearance at last.

"Travis..what are you doing?" Max asked.

"Well hello to you too." Travis greeted. "I know I'm the last person you thought you'd see.."

"Isn't that obvious enough without having to bring it up?"

"Okay yes..but believe me, this is the last thing I thought I would be doing." admitted Travis with a sigh. "Caspar has the tendency to throw people in the worst of situations.."

"Agreed." Max stated. "So why are you sending me a dream exactly?"

"Because I don't have a choice in the matter."

"Meaning?"

"Long story short, when Caspar was expelled after what he did to you our parents basically had enough of his antics and sent him to a reform school for the 'gifted'." the nineteen year old explained. "Being Caspar, he managed to get kicked out of the school within a month and was sent to me to look after him."

"I still don't get how that involves me."

"I was getting to that..since I was still at college for 'non-supers', I had asked Caspar to see if any jobs in Metroburg were available for him so we could have a start on money for an apartment." Travis went on. "I was trying to figure out what I was going to do since college was no longer an option and while I was absorbed in my final week of classes, Caspar ran into Mr. Electric in Metroburg."

"Let me guess, Mr. Electric offered Caspar the one thing you guys needed?"

"Correct." answered the almond brown eyed blond answered. "Caspar had accepted his offer no questions asked before I even knew about their encounter..we weren't in the best of situations so I understood his reasoning when he explained what had happened but little did either of us know we would soon become a key part in Mr. Electric's grand plan of revenge against your dad."

"Fantastic.." mumbled Max. "Something tells me you're not just here to let me in of all of what happened with you and Caspar."

"I'm afraid so Max, just know that I don't like this as much as you do." Travis replied. "You're coming back with me."

"Anything you want to tell me before we get to that?"

"He's been doing his homework, so I would just keep that in mind."

"Great, just when I thought Sparky couldn't get any worse."

"Try living with him." Travis smirked, allowing a small laugh to escape his lips. "I know this doesn't really seem sincere given the circumstances, but I've always liked you Max."

"You're a good guy yourself, just letting me know about all this shows that."

"Sparky was against me talking to you beforehand at all..but I thought you deserved to finally get some answers for all this."

"Thanks."

"You ready for this?" the nineteen year old responded suddenly as Max noticed their surroundings were beginning to become fuzzy.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

In the matter of a few moments, Travis welcomed the fifteen year old into the dwelling of the villain responsible for the living nightmare that Max had encountered for this bit of time that felt like centuries. Instead of simply standing in this place left to hear Mr. Electric's plans for him as Max was expecting, he was already trapped in a rather small room filled with the required necessities for any human being which included a laser barrier that sparked of blues and purples on occasion blocking any chance of an escape. Just when he thought maybe his abilities would allow him to be free of this prison, Max realized something attached to his wrist that wasn't there beforehand, glowing a deep green hue that he found disturbing.

On the other side of this prison was Travis who seemed already caught up on another task as if Max's presence was something he already grew accustomed to.

"I'm not even here five minutes and you're already acting as if I'm nonexistent.." Max stated under his breath in annoyance.

"Hey, be happy I talked Caspar out of suggesting to Mr. Electric that he should just drain your powers on the spot." pointed out the nineteen year old. "I thought of the power canceling bracelet just in time."

"He can drain powers?"

"It's only temporary." Travis explained. "I can say from experience that it's not a pleasant thing to go through."

"I'm not going to even ask.."

"Good thinking, he'll be here any minute."

Through all the threatening remarks Mr. Electric had passed on to him, Max had tried to imagine just what this villain looked like. The person that glanced over at him wasn't what he had pictured in his mind. To be honest, Mr. Electric could pass off as just an average person who you would randomly see roaming the streets. He had jet black hair that was messily styled as if he didn't need to spend much time to get it the way he liked, a faded red t-shirt with a leather jacket which was the color of coal, a pair of dark denim jeans which were both torn and stained, black leather shoes, some stubble apparent across his cheeks and chin and the one thing that caught Max by surprise: deep blue eyes that he could have swore had electricity coursing through the pupils. Max guessed he had to be in his mid twenties to really early thirties, dissolving his assumption that the foe would be older than his father.

"We finally meet face to face." Mr. Electric smirked. "Tell me boy, how was your travel here?"

"Fine." responded Max dully.

"I bet you never would have guessed I was only a few years older than you when I first faced your father."

"You'd be right, now what's your plan for him this time around?"

"You'll find out in time." he answered simply. "I'd get some sleep if I were you Max, you have no idea what I have in store."


	12. Chapter 12

When Hank found Max's bedroom empty that next morning, he didn't know how to react. Then a voice he was too familiar with enlightened him, confirming the whereabouts of his son instantly.

"_As it turns out, getting that son of yours in my grasp was too easy." _

"_He didn't willingly I know that much.." _

"_Do the details really matter?" _

"_What do you want?" _

"_You and your son ask far too many questions..I want you isn't it obvious?" _Mr. Electric responded. _"Max is going to help me get what I want, now if I were you I'd hurry because I'm going to give him a run for his money until you decide to show up, if you want to that is." _

"_You're a sick man Mr. Electric.." _

"_I've been told that far too much..see you soon Thunderman." _

"Hank, where's Max?" asked Barb.

"Turns out Mr. Electric needs me sooner than I thought." Hank admitted. "He has Max.."

"What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to go find that monster and get our son back." replied Hank. "You and the kids are going to go about your day as normal alright?"

"Honey, you and I both know we're better as a team." Barb remarked. "The kids are going to notice he's gone Hank, you can't just expect them to act as if everything's fine."

"So what are we going to do, we certainly can't take them with us."

"We've been training them to be prepared for villains, this is their chance to prove themselves."

"You honestly want to treat Max's kidnapping as a training lesson..are you crazy?"

"No I'm not Hank." responded Barb sternly. "Think about this, if we take the kids to school they could put the whole family in danger by dwelling on what we're doing and if we leave them home they'll most likely find their way to secretly tag along with us to help."

"Fine, tell them to suit up." Hank reluctantly agreed.

Once Mr. Electric had sent his rival his message, he continued on watching Max's slumber as Caspar was preparing what the villain had in store for the young Thunderman. Much to his delight, he was allowed to awaken his former friend with fire sparking within his fingertips. The second he threw the flame through the laser barrier and towards the fifteen year old, Max's almost fully healed shoulder was damaged even further.

"Well that was a pleasant wake up call.." muttered Max under his breath and he turned to face his tormentors.

"Good morning Max, I'm guessing you slept well?"

"As nice as you can on a slab of metal."

"Fair enough." Mr. Electric stated dully. "Now it's time that I get inside that head of yours to make sure I'm able to get what I want."

"You didn't get enough when you were sending messages every five minutes?"

"Very funny." the villain remarked. "You'll see who gets the last laugh."

The bracelet that Travis had created to contain Max's powers actually had more than one use that could be controlled by a small panel compiled of several buttons with different functions, which was now in Caspar's possession. As he pressed the flashing yellow button in the top right hand corner, the bracelet shifted from the disturbing green to an almost calming light yellow. Max couldn't even question what the change meant because much to his dismay he no longer had control of his own being, Mr. Electric did.

"Now that he's basically a robot waiting for his commands, let's find out just what he's capable of."

Once the Thundermans were as prepared as one could be for the upcoming rescue mission, they began their search for Mr. Electric's secret hideaway. Nora's suggestion was to inspect Metroburg since this was the last place where Hank and Mr. Electric faced each other. Since that was the most reasonable suggestion given, that's where the Thundermans were heading.

"Where was his hideout the last time you faced him Dad?" wondered Billy.

"In an abandoned warehouse, but the last time we encountered one another the building burst into flames..so that's out."

"This is going to sound extremely cliché, but would he be underground somewhere?" Phoebe questioned.

"It can't hurt to look." Barb pointed out. "Do you remember the way Hank?"

"I may be a retired superhero but some things you never forget."

"What's so special about under Metroburg?" Nora asked.

"It's where we faced our first villain together." answered Barb with a small smile as she recalled the memory.

"Billy, do you think you could help us get there faster?" Hank questioned.

"Of course I can, speed is my specialty!" cheered Billy as he was told directions by Hank to where Mr. Electric could be holding Max.

Within a hour and a half of vigorous searching, the family was beginning to lose hope. Just when Hank was trying to come up with somewhere else to look, Nora was the one who spotted something out of the ordinary.

"Um guys?" she spoke up. "I think there's something we need to check out."

Before everyone's eyes, glimpses of smoke and flashes of light were coming from one of the tunnels repeatedly, as if being in use every few seconds at a time.

"Nora, I think you've led us in the right direction." responded Hank with a smile as the Thundermans went towards the source.

Mr. Electric was honestly impressed with how Max was able to be handled against Caspar. Though the Thunderman did obtain a few burns and bruises, Caspar was a fair match for him considering his abilities just being found out about.

"Alright, that's enough Caspar." Mr. Electric spoke up. "Now we see if he has any abilities he has yet to discover."

While this may seem like an impossible thing to detect, Mr. Electric had Travis add this as a function to the bracelet, which took some time to perfect but once he tested this numerous times it was extremely accurate. The nineteen year old also had to make sure more than one function could be used at a time, which proved to be obtainable but also very unpleasant to go through.

As the bracelet adjusted from the nearly calm yellow to a burnt shade of orange, the information that was coming in before the villain's eyes clearly sparked his interest. His attention was drawn to this so much that Phoebe's shock attack towards him went far more smoothly than she expected.

"How did you crummy Thundermans find this place?" Caspar blurted out without meaning to.

"We have our ways." stated Phoebe simply as she headed towards him, ready to do the same to him as she had Mr. Electric.

u

"You need to rethink your sneak attacks my dear." Mr. Electric spoke up suddenly as he seemed to find just the button he needed and pressed it with a grin.

Max seemed to spark back to life once Mr. Electric sent his command. Instead of the collaboration against their father's enemy as Phoebe was expecting, her brother teleported and swiftly kicked her down to the ground without a second thought.

"Max, what are you doing?" exclaimed Barb as Billy zoomed by to help Phoebe back on her feet.

"Oh I completely forgot to tell you fools." Mr. Electric responded. "I'm in control of your beloved son now Thunderman."

Now that he had said it aloud, the family could see this was no sick joke he was playing. Instead of the usual shade of chocolate brown in Max's eyes, it was replaced with a pixelated array of various shades of yellow.

"Once I unlock his full potential, Max will be a wonderful apprentice."

Hank clearly wasn't having any of what his enemy had to say. Within seconds, rage consumed the hero which resulted in a punch to the villain's jaw that held no restraint whatsoever. Caspar seemed to be upset by Hank's actions because as soon as he looked in his direction, Caspar surrounded him in copies of himself and held a growing flame in his hand that seemed more than ready to be released.

"Very nice work Thunderman, but I've come better prepared this time." Mr. Electric smirked. "Calm down Caspar, I've got him right where he needs to be..go put that fury to good use on his kids."

Reluctantly doing as he was told, Caspar and his copies headed towards Phoebe and Billy with his desire to make his mark on them apparent more than ever. Nora luckily was able to use both her invisibility and lasers to catch him off guard, leading to his lookalikes disappearing.

As the siblings worked together against Caspar and Hank was in the middle of an one on one with his long term enemy, Barb was trying to figure out how to return her son to normal while also avoiding Max's attacks against her.

"Max, it's me." Barb stated again as she barely dodged a punch meant for her. "I know you're in there sweetie, I don't want to hurt you."

That's when the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. The bracelet attached to his wrist matched the shade of his current eye color, which had to be how he was being controlled.

"Thunderman, it's the-" Barb began to exclaim until a hand suddenly covered her mouth, relentless on allowing her to reveal her findings to Hank.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to keep that to yourself." Travis responded as he snapped a bracelet on her wrist to allow her powers to be of no advantage to her. "Sweet dreams Mrs. Thunderman."

Travis then slipped Barb into a deep slumber, which allowed him to enter her dream state and assure she wouldn't awaken any time soon.

"Barb!" screamed Hank as the events with her and Travis flashed before his eyes.

"I'm so sorry about your wife, but I assure you she's perfectly fine." smirked Mr. Electric. "But I would keep your head in the game Thunderman."

Before he could even react, his foe sneakily pressed the button he'd been waiting for: the black overdrive button. Max immediately came sprinting towards them, eyes and bracelet both pitch black. Once beside him, the young Thunderman and Mr. Electric were practically clones in their movements. Sending attack after attack, Hank was struggling to keep up.

While Caspar had had the advantage at first, the siblings were noticing his demeanor weakening. Not fully thinking her actions through Phoebe sent a force field raging towards Caspar which to her surprise created power canceling handcuffs that attached to his hands and feet, which left him defenseless and confined to the spot.

"Nora, Billy you two help Dad, I'll try to bring Mom back to her senses." instructed Phoebe as the siblings split up to complete their tasks.

Just as Hank was becoming overwhelmed, Nora stepped in and brought all she had to stop Mr. Electric. Billy was running in circles to restrain his brother in hopes that hurting Max wouldn't be necessary. As soon as Max surprised the ten year old by kicking him to stop his ongoing running pattern, Billy knew that containing his brother wouldn't work. As the fifteen year old came towards him preparing another defense, the panic and confusion on what to do became too much for Billy. A sonic scream suddenly escaped his lips, causing Max to fly sprawling back to closest wall and everyone else left to take in Billy's new power.

As soon as the scream came to an end, Billy collapsed. Due to just how powerful his scream had been, Barb was awoken from the slumber Travis forced upon her and was free of the bracelet's effects. Travis however was left without an ounce of energy, so as soon as he was forced out of her dream state he was out cold.

"I've got Billy Phoebe, you go check on Max..be cautious though okay?"

Once she came to her twin's side, she realized the bracelet that had been on his wrist had broken from the impact Billy made. Max seemed to slowly be returning to reality, so she prepared a force field in case he would throw an unexpected blow towards her.

"P-Pheebs?" he stuttered weakly as his chocolate brown eyes fluttered open.

"Max, you're back!" his sister squealed as she hugged him out of relief.

"I-I can't b-breathe.."

"Sorry.."

"W-What happened?"

"You were in some kind of trance I guess.." Phoebe started to say before everything clicked. "Mr. Electric was controlling you somehow with that bracelet."

"I'm really hating this guy more and more.." mumbled Max as he managed to get on his feet. "I guess that's why I feel like a truck hit me numerous times."

"Yeah, that and Billy's sonic scream."

"His _what?_"

"We'll get to that later, right now we need to help Dad."

To say Mr. Electric was outnumbered would be an understatement. As Hank and Max both sent their amplified blows back to back, Nora using her lasers to catch his attention and Phoebe sending a force field towards him to leave him powerless in the end the family could definitely say they were victorious.

Their first action was to inform the Metroburg police of the villain's, Caspar's and Travis's whereabouts so their actions couldn't be repeated. Once the three were contained by the police, Max did the honor of teleporting the family back home.

_ Three Days Later.._

The battle the Thundermans had experienced still felt surreal to Max. Within the time that had passed, he had found a strange comfort in Phoebe's getaway place in the late hours of the night when sleep wasn't very kind to him. As he was admiring the starry sky he created in awe and thinking about the events of that fight once again, Phoebe happened to sneak in to her getaway just in time to catch her twin off guard, resulting in a quite noticeable jump scare.

"Please tell me we didn't share a dream again." Max spoke up seriously once Phoebe's fit of giggles stopped.

"No we didn't, I was just.." Phoebe began to answer until she had her brother's question fully sink in. "What did you dream about?"

"It's not a big deal, I was just making sure we weren't going to have a round two with Sparky you know?" answered Max quickly.

"It was about hurting us..wasn't it?"

"Is it that obvious?" her brother managed to admit, his voice making it seem that just saying it aloud broke him.

"It wasn't your fault."

"I tried so damn hard to fight it." Max blurted out. "I wasn't aware of everything I did until yesterday but I remember too well how much I tried to fight for control, and I still wasn't strong enough."

"Max, look at me." Phoebe spoke sternly. "You took all the torment in Metroburg like it didn't phase you, you handled gaining your powers far better than I did, you took on the confrontation with Dad's worst enemy _and _Caspar like you had done it a million times before and going through the aftermath..it just proves you're one of the strongest people I've ever met, and with that said you don't have to hold all that on your shoulders..it's okay to break down."

"Okay, just remember you said that." Max got out a few moments later. "The dream is more of a blurry flashback..just everything I did towards you guys like it didn't even phase me, it's like how Caspar and his buddies used to act towards me and..I couldn't bring myself to snap out of it."

"You want to know the difference between you and them?" Phoebe responded. "While they were in full control of their actions _you weren't, _Mr. Electric, _Dad's worst enemy_ had you under his control against your will..you can't blame yourself for that."

Her twin had grown quiet for quite some time after she said that, as if allowing her words to truly sink in. Just when she thought he didn't know what to believe, Max spoke up.

"I think you're right."

"Why don't you fully believe me?"

"I want to believe you, I really do." Max argued. "It's just..I think I need to some time to come to that conclusion on my own."

"I get it." Phoebe replied. "It's crazy how fast everything changed."

"Agreed." her brother added. "Are you going to follow in Mom and Dad's footsteps with the whole superhero thing?"

"Most likely, why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious.."

"Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Going to follow Mom and Dad's footsteps?"

"I have no idea." confessed Max. "I mean, I think I would like to but I've gone so long thinking that I'd never have that option and now that I do, I'm not sure if I'd take it."

"At least you know you're not going to be a villain right?"

"Yeah, that's definitely not for me."

"That's something you can say you got from all this."

"True, quite a something to go through to get that though."

"That's life for you Max." Phoebe stated.

While Max's new reality wasn't the easiest to take on in such a short amount of time, he was certain of one thing despite everything life threw at him. It doesn't matter what kind of hell you're facing, you're going to get through it.

**And that concludes Never Expected. I'm being completely honest here, I wasn't planning on ending this fic with this chapter, it just kinda worked out that way as I was writing it. I wasn't sure how to exactly end this fic, so I apologize if the ending isn't the greatest. I'm not sure if I'm going to make a sequel yet, but if you guys want me to just let me know in the reviews! I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)**


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